Growing up as a three sport athlete, carbs and protein were a way of life. During her last year at university, my younger sister decided to go vegetarian and sparked my stubborn curiosity. Could I give up meat and still have enough energy? Would it make me feel better or worse? Is it really that much more sustainable for the planet?
Now that we’re living in England together, I’ve decided to make the leap. I almost gave in last week to an order from KFC, but I held strong and said no the flaky, crispy delicious chicken that I love so much…
Anyway, saliva aside, I’ve been feeling good. More than just to please my sister, I decided to do some research on the impact of eating meat, both internally and externally. Here’s what I found, and why I’m giving the veggie lifestyle a try…
- “Vegetarians appear to have lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure and lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes than meat eaters.” -according to WedMD
- One pound of beef takes 9,000 litres (over 20,000 pounds) of water to harvest and farming uses 70% of water available to humans. –The Guardian
- Animals bred for meat in 2006 accounted for 18% of the global climate change conditions. That’s higher than cars, planes, and all other forms of transport combined. Just think about how high that number is now.
- “By eating vegetarian food for a year you could save the same amount of emissions as taking a small family car off the road for 6 months.” –The Vegetarian Society
- “An 8 oz chicken breast takes over 542 litres of water to produce. Enough to fill your bathtub 6.5 times.”
